Invite Reveal

It's been almost a week since we sent out our invitations, and since I'm already getting responses, I'll go ahead and give you a peek at them! Now if you remember anything about Mr. S and I, you will know that we work together for a company that designs and prints greeting cards. Needless to say, we had no problem designing and printing our invites.

Invitation - personal image

Response Card - personal image

Outer Envelope - personal image

I chose not to have Mr. S print them on the formal wedding stock they have in the print shop. I also chose not to have them printed in thermography, a printing process that raises the ink on the paper. I don't really have an explanation as to why I did not want to use these options, when they are so readily and easily available to me. The only thing I can think of, is that those types of printing make me think of traditional, formal weddings. And our style is nothing like that. So instead, I chose to print the invitation and response card on Stardream Crystal paper, by Gruppo Cordenons. Their Stardream line is one of my all-time favorites to use for so many things. The Crystal paper is an iridescent white stock, that can look anything from white to silver depending on the angle you view it from. Luckily for me, I have many contacts in the paper-buying world, and was able to get a pack from my favorite paper rep for free! Just one of the many many perks to being in this business :)

A close-up of the paper stock, with added contrast so you can see the iridescent effect - personal image

The envelope is just plain white. No liner, nothing fancy. I used the data-merge function in InDesign to lay out the names and addresses, which pulled the guests' information from my guest list spreadsheet. I also printed our return address on the back flap.

Finally, I chose the USPS's Vintage Seed Packet Forever Stamps. The USPS has some really nice "weddingy" options when it comes to stamps, but my love for gardening and flowers won over the traditional roses and hearts.

Vintage Seed Packet Forever Stamps - image courtesy USPS.com

Grand total spent on our wedding invitations: $46.00 for the stamps. Yes, that's it. I could have gone all out and done some really neat designs, pockets, layers, etc. But even with my connections we would have spent at least $200 or more on something like that. In my mind, it just wasn't necessary.

You may have noticed that our response card doesn't have an envelope. That is because I chose to do an online RSVP for our guests. After reading mixed reviews from other brides who have used this process, I decided to also give guests the option to call me directly to respond. Many of them already have our contact info anyway, so sending a quick text or making a call doesn't seem too out of the ordinary for most of them. I've already received back 24 "yes" and 6 "no" responses. So at this moment, we are at a 75% acceptance rate. I'll keep you posted on those numbers through the next few weeks.

Until next time, happy planning, and keep it frugal!

Miss Spaghetti

Alive and Kicking Some Wedding To-Do Butt

Hey there, just popping in to give you all an update on where I've been, and how we're doing now that we're only a mere 46 DAYS out from our wedding! Sorry I've been MIA. But I've actually accomplished a TON in my time away from blogging...

• Made some bout's - don't have any good pics, but basically took out some of the cute small flowers from my bouquets and made boutonnieres out of them
• Sent out some invites - that's right, it's official now, the invites are out! Stay tuned for a reveal of our simple yet pretty invitations
• Lost a bridesmaid, and in turn, a groomsman - yep, my Friendster H had to back out of her role as my bridesmaid. After moving to Texas a while back, she and her hubby are having a hard time getting the time off work, finding plane tickets they can afford, etc etc. I would never want to put a friend in a position have to go broke in order to be at my wedding. So we decided together that she wouldn't be in our bridal party. *Tear*. And as a result, Mr. S gave one of his groomsmen a choice to either walk by himself, or just to come as a guest. Since said groomsman is one of the most laid back dudes I've met, he was totally fine just coming as a guest to enjoy the festivities. Phew!
• Picked a hotel - after getting group rate quotes from multiple hotels near our venue, I decided on the closest one, which also happens to be the least costly. And in addition, their online booking rates are CHEAPER than their discounted group rates! WHA? So I've encouraged our guests via our wedding website to book online for the best pricing.

My bachelorette party, planned by MOH/Sister K, is this weekend! I still don't know what we are doing, but I've been told we have to leave at 8 am Saturday morning, and won't be back until Sunday. People, I have no idea what to expect. Mr. S keeps messing with me saying that MOH K told him where we're going and that he will never tell. Then he says he has no idea. I guess I'll find out when we get there!

My bridal shower is planned for Sunday May 5th. My lovely Cousin's J and L are hosting it for me, and I couldn't be more appreciative and excited! I'm trying not to be a registry stalker, but as soon as I saw things being taken off our list, I couldn't control myself! Please tell me I'm not the only one :)

Well that was a lot. I hope you aren't overwhelmed with all my accomplishments ;) I have a lot more to share in the coming days so stay tuned!

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

MOH K's Wedding Stationery Reveal

I was thrilled to do the stationery design and printing for my sister/MOH K's wedding earlier this month. Now that the wedding is done, I can show you all my hard work. WOOHOO! So without further ado, here it is! (all images personal unless otherwise noted)

Save the Date Card

Invitation

Response Card

Program Front

Program Back

Table Number Card

The table number cards in use - Photo copyright Autumn Rae Studios

Place Cards

And the place cards in action (these were used only on the head tables) - Photo copyright Autumn Rae Studios

Favor Bags (We made puppy chow and it turned out SO GOOD! Highly recommended if you are doing favors) -Photo copyright Autumn Rae Studios

And finally, the 18x24" Seating Chart

And now, since we've got a bit of image porn going on here anyway, have a looksie at some of the pics of my GORG sister and her beautiful wedding! She did a fabulous job at picking just the right details for her style, and who doesn't love some inspiration - especially if you are planning a winter wedding! Huge props to the photographers at Autumn Rae Studios out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The photos are spectacular! (all images copyright Autumn Rae Studios)

Bouquet/ring shot - always love these!

Us gals having a giggle (keeping ourselves warm)

And the gents looking dapper

The bride moments before the ceremony

Have you ever seen a more beautiful bride?!?!

The bridesmaid's gifts: pink rubber boots!

MOH K showing off her boots

The bride's shoes - ruffles add such beautiful detail!

Lookin' good ladies!

My favorite dance of the night - an un-rehearsed, upbeat little diddy my dad picked. The cutest and most fun father-daughter dance ever!

Sparkler exit

Cupcakes for dessert! Notice MOH K's nails - they are pink with silver sparkles that are thick at the top, and gradually decrease as they go down the nail. So pretty and unique!

Anyone else attend or plan a winter wedding?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Our Wedding Featured on Facebook!

Exciting news! The company I work for has asked if they could feature our wedding on their Facebook page! Remember my post about how Mr. S and I work for the same company, designing and printing wedding invitations? Well, it's only fitting that they showcase our upcoming nuptials via social media!

We recently gave followers the chance to help Mr. S and I choose our wedding invitations. Feel free to check it out on the M. Middleton Facebook page. To give you a little more background on my job, I manage the design and printing of custom wedding stationery. Retail stores buy our albums, and sell the invitations to their customers. Then, Mr. S prints them. Simple as that! So I basically picked 5 designs that I really like, typeset them, and we put images on the Facebook page. Then, we made a poll so followers could pick their favorite. The IT web guy said viewership went up 300% since they shared our story :) Go us!

In case you are curious and don't want to scroll through all the posts on the Facebook page, here are the 5 invites I picked (all images copyright M. Middleton):

Option A

Option B

Option C

Option D

Option E

If you want to vote (and I do believe that you should), head over to the Facebook page and look for the poll! Obvi I am not too concerned about letting people see our invites before they are sent out ;)

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

4 Month Check-in & MOH K's Wedding

Well readers, you may have noticed that I've been absent the past few weeks. With the exception of my blog posts about hosting my sister and MOH K's Bachelorette Party, and bridesmaid dress shopping, I haven't had a whole lot to say. But there is a reason for that...MOH K's wedding is TOMORROW!

I just can't believe how quickly the time has gone. Just like when we were planning for BM S's wedding back in October, we seemed to have so much time and then all of a sudden BAM it's here. The arrival of MOH K's wedding means that our own wedding is only 4 months away. Luckily, I've got a lot the big stuff done. Here's what I've checked off the list so far...

• Catering - JT's Catering (remember our tasty pizza/pasta feast!)
• Photography - Katy Batdorff Photography
• Venue - Johnson Park
• Wedding Dress - David's Bridal (stay tuned after the wedding for the reveal!)
• Bridesmaid Dresses - David's Bridal

Things I'm working on now:

• DJ
• Flowers
• Choosing hotel for room block
• Invitation design

As for the rest, I'm not thinking about any of it until after this weekend is over. I've been hard at work getting all the paper goods printed for K's wedding, which I will post after the weekend is through. Until then, stay tuned for lots more wedding planning goodies on the way!

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

So Inviting

As you may or may not know, I am a graphic designer. My handsome fiance Mr. S is a printing pressman. Therefore, I feel a lot of pressure to create some amazing stationery for our wedding. The good thing is that I enjoy designing so much, that I don't mind spending a lot of time on our paper goods. The other good thing (and there really are many others) is that I have an entire print shop at my disposal, meaning a nice discount :)

The tough part for me, is spending a lot of money on something that people other than my parents and myself will just throw away after they put the date and time in their calendar. So my goal is to use typography and color to design some unique wedding stationery, without spending more than...drum roll please...$150!

How will I manage this? Partly with the help of the above mentioned discounts, and partly by cutting out things that we really don't need. Accommodations, directions, reception info, all things that will be on our wedding website. Response cards? I'm still debating this with myself, because I would love to have online RSVP. I have read mixed reviews on this, but overall I feel that the amount of money and time spent trying to get people to respond with a little card isn't really worth it, when you still end up having to track down a quarter of your guest list anyway since it's too much trouble for them to drop the pre-addressed and stamped envelope in the mail. Plus, Wedding Wire offers a free online RSVP option through their wedding websites, and I would really like to utilize that!

Now onto the design details. I LOVE scripty fonts. One of my favorites is Burgues Script (drool!). The one thing I designed early on is our monogram:

Personal Image and Design

And I'll use that font with my fave serif font, Filosofia, on all of our stationery. For our save the date postcards, I'll tease you with the engagement pic that I want to use. But I'll save the design reveal until after they are sent out...

Katy Batdorff Photography

How much do you plan to spend on your wedding stationery? Did anyone use online RSVP? If so, how did it work for you?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Getting Corn-y

Well it's finally time for Bridesmaid/Cousin S to get married! This coming Saturday is the big day, and needless to say I've been a bit absent from the blogging world as I have been helping her with lots of wedding projects! Last Saturday night was spent at S's house with she and Maid of Honor/Sister K (we are both bridesmaids) putting delicious freshly-made caramel corn by my good friend over at Marckini Concessions into favor bags. YUM! Such a great idea by S to have this for her wedding favors! In the midst of all the bag-filling and sampling, I didn't even snap a picture. But I will be taking lots of pics at her wedding this weekend, so I'll be sure to upload some.

So how did we do it? S bought plastic favor bags from Oriental Trading:

Image courtesy of Oriental Trading

We started with 6 plastic tubs full of caramel corn, and ended up with 170 bags. We tied the bags with ribbon:

Image courtesy of Oriental Trading (hers were cream colored, not black)

And slapped (carefully placed) a label on the front:

Personal design and image

Ta-da! A tasty and unique wedding favor. My other BIG project for S's wedding is all of her stationery. I designed and printed almost all of her paper goods for the day:

Invitation-Personal Image

Response Card-Personal Image

Advice Card-Personal Image

Place Cards for the head table-Personal Image

Ceremony Programs (Front and back)-Personal Image

16x20 Seating Chart, mounted on foam core and to be displayed on an easel-Personal Image

Table Number Cards-Personal Image

Phew! I'm done with everything except the seating chart, which needs to be printed and mounted at Office Depot since I can't print that big at work, and the programs. For the invitations, I used Cordenons Stardream Opal 105# cover weight paper for the backer, and S picked out some ribbon at Hobby Lobby that she liked. I used an image of the ribbon on some of the pieces to tie it together.

Anyone else have any big projects lately that are unrelated to their own wedding? Between S's wedding this weekend, and K's wedding in early February, I don't know how I'm going to get anything done for mine in June!

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Michael's Coupon

Fellow wedding planners-there is a new Michael's coupon available on their website. It is for 25% off your entire purchase, SALE ITEMS INCLUDED! Their normal coupons are good only on regular priced items, so pair this one with a sale and you could score some great deals!

The coupon is good through tomorrow (Saturday 9/29). Check out the details here. It does exclude clearance, and a few brands, but I LOVE the fact that you can use it on sale items. And they let you use the coupon from your smart phone as well!

Happy shopping!
Miss Spaghetti

Ladies to Maidy's

So far in the blog you have heard me talk a little 'bout my maids. I thought I'd take a few minutes to talk about who they are, and show you how I asked them to be in my wedding.

I have known forever who I wanted in my bridal party, so that part was easy:

-MOH K, my sister, best friend and personal stylist
-BM M, my youngest sister
-BM S, my cousin who is a month younger than me, and my oldest friend
-BM H, my friendster (mix between friend and sister) because she is like a sister to me

Now the interesting thing about my bridesmaids, is that they are all either married or engaged and will be married before I am. BM S is getting married in just ONE MONTH! Holy cow! And MOH K will be getting married in February. BM H is getting married in March, and BM M was married last July. And the kicker is, I am in all of my girls' weddings. Needless to say, I am going to be a very busy girl until after my wedding is done.

Like most brides-to-be, I wanted to find a unique way to ask my ladies to be my maids. But I didn't want to spend a ton. The most important thing I wanted to get across was that each lady is important to me, and to tell them why I chose them. Weddings are very meaningful to me, and I wanted them to understand why it was important for them to be standing up there with me on such a special day.

What I decided to do was use one of my fave websites Paperless Post. I chose a cute little invite, wrote a personal note to each lady, and sent it off.

I also used this site for Little Noodle's 6th birthday party last month. I picked an invite, put in my text, picked an envelope liner, and voila! The site emails your entire guest list, and asks them to respond. It also provides them with a map to to site, and gives them an option of leaving a comment or question for the party planner. It worked like a charm, and I got a ton of compliments on it! There are a lot of invitations on the site that are free to email to recipients. Some of them cost money, or "coins" as they call it. When I signed up, I got some "coins" for free, so sending out Little Noodles invites with the extras (envelope liner, stamp, etc.) didn't cost me a thing. But normally, you would buy those features with your coins. Make sense? Good!

How did you ask your ladies to be your maidy's?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti